Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey's
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Turning conventional notions of sanity and insanity on their heads, the novel tells the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her.

John C. Reilly makes this book come alive

A bravura performance from Reilly. This is an amazing book with a nuanced performance that makes it a must listen.

The Outsider

By:
Stephen King

Narrated by:
Will Patton

Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
33,457

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
30,653

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
30,516

An 11-year-old boy's violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City's most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

Will Patton and Stephen King make a great pair

Will Patton does a great job channeling Stephen King's characters. And King offers up another supernatural thriller to keep you on your toes and guessing how it'll play itself out. Very enjoyable.

1 of 11 people found this review helpful

The Last Gunfight

The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral - and How It Changed the American West

By:
Jeff Guinn

Narrated by:
Stephen Hoye

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
437

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
373

Story

4 out of 5 stars
373

For the first time ever, the full story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral - not only what really happened but why, and how mythology has led us to completely misinterpret the real history of the frontier. Combining cinematic storytelling with prodigious research,
The Last Gunfight upends conventional wisdom about what the West was really like, who the Earps and Doc Holliday really were, and what actually happened in Tombstone on that cold day in October 1881.

4 out of 5 stars

The movie wasn't even close.

By
Rick
on
03-17-13

The Last Gunfight

The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral - and How It Changed the American West

Maybe too well researched

Obviously a well researched book and there's a ton of information here. But it was really overkill for me. I didn't need quite so much backstory.

Born on the Fourth of July

By:
Ron Kovic

Narrated by:
Holter Graham,
Bruce Springsteen - introduction

Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
370

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
340

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
340

This
New York Times best seller (more than one million copies sold) details the author's life story (portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Oliver Stone film version) - from a patriotic soldier in Vietnam, to his severe battlefield injury, to his role as the country's most outspoken anti-Vietnam War advocate, spreading his message from his wheelchair.

Read it and rejoice, read it and weep—Springsteen

Gripping performance

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-13-17

The story bares Ron Kovic's soul and shines a light on his Vietnam experience. But what separates this audiobook is the great performance by Holter Graham. He breathes life into each character uniquely and dramatically.

As You Wish

Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

By:
Cary Elwes,
Joe Layden,
Rob Reiner (foreword)

Narrated by:
Cary Elwes,
Christopher Guest,
Carol Kane,
and others

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
9,060

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
8,410

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
8,361

From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in
The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.

Utterly Charming

If you're a fan of the film, you'll love this reminiscence from Cary Elwes. And the performance is great with many of the film's stars chiming in with their memories of making this classic.

The Island at the Center of the World

The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan

By:
Russell Shorto

Narrated by:
L.J. Ganser

Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
1,125

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
619

Story

4 out of 5 stars
624

Nearly 40 years ago, a New York State Library archivist discovered 12,000 pages of extraordinary records from the original Dutch colony on Manhattan. After decades of painstaking translation, the documents became the primary source for this breathtaking history of early New York.

Wealth of Information, but Continual Repitition

A tour de force

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-08-16

This is what history writing is supposed to be. A vivid, living history of the Dutch colony in America. You are there on the wall watching the English gunships forcing the surrender of the colony. You are in the houses of the settlers fighting off the Indian attackers in the night. Everything you didn't know about New Amersterdam is here and it's brilliantly narrated. Don't miss this one.

Lies My Teacher Told Me

Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

By:
James W. Loewen

Narrated by:
Brian Keeler

Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
2,182

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
1,581

Story

4 out of 5 stars
1,589

This national best seller is an entertaining, informative, and sometimes shocking expose of the way history is taught to American students.
Lies My Teacher Told Me won the American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship.

Historical Fiction Stranger Than Truth

Interesting history obscured by strident hectoring

Overall

2 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Story

1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-01-16

I just couldn't listen to what may very well have been some interesting history when it was so weighed down with hectoring about inadequate school books. We get it, school history books get a lot wrong. I don't need it hammered at every moment, just get on with correcting it.

Now I Know More

The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

By:
Dan Lewis

Narrated by:
Anthony Haden Salerno

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
633

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
574

Story

4 out of 5 stars
575

Get ready to find out the real deal behind a new collection of fascinating facts. From pink camouflaged fighter planes to secret Harry Potter characters,
Now I Know More covers everything from history and science to sports and pop culture. You'll learn about made-up towns that made their way onto real maps, the time three MLB teams squared off in a single game, and 99 more curious cases of remarkable trivia. And it's all true. With this audiobook, you really will know more!

Cut rate Ripley's Believe it or Not

I wasn't expecting some sensationalized facts with cornball writing and breathless delivery. Personally this was unlistenable.

1812: The Navy's War

By:
George C. Daughan

Narrated by:
Marc Vietor

Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
566

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
498

Story

4 out of 5 stars
497

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, America's prospects looked dismal. It was clear that the primary battlefield would be the open ocean but America's war fleet, only 20 ships strong, faced a practiced British navy of more than a thousand men-of-war. Still, through a combination of nautical deftness and sheer bravado, the American navy managed to take the fight to the British and turn the tide of the war.

Fantastic, if complicated, account of the war

Not quite as promised

The content is interesting and provides a great in-depth look at the war, but it doesn't really support the thesis that this was "the navy's war".

The Pixar Touch

The Making of a Company

By:
David A. Price

Narrated by:
David Drummond

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,188

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
860

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
865

The Pixar Touch is a lively chronicle of Pixar Animation Studios' history and evolution, and the "fraternity of geeks" who shaped it. With the help of visionary businessman Steve Jobs and animating genius John Lasseter, Pixar has become the gold standard of animated filmmaking, beginning with a short special effects shot made at Lucasfilm in 1982 all the way up through the landmark films
Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and others.